


Obi-Wan's Present

by merry_amelie



Series: Household Romance [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-20
Updated: 2011-11-20
Packaged: 2018-04-12 20:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4494396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A revelatory gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Obi-Wan's Present

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Nerowill, Emila-Wan, and Carol  
> Mali Wane for posting  
> My former betas: Alex, Ula, and Padawan Sue  
>   
> To Little Owl

  
  
[The Wrong Impressionist](mailto:tukitaka@gmail.com)'s beautiful artwork  


For the first time in his life, Qui-Gon Jinn was truly comfortable in his own bed. Austere and frugal, he had slept for decades under coarse, scratchy blankets, never imagining that he'd feel the luxury of divi fabric against his skin. Until now.

Obi-Wan's gift had changed everything.

Qui-Gon stared at the blue-green quilt tucked under his chin, as he relaxed in his sleep-shorts at bedtime. He'd never thought anyone would give him a present like this. For the quilt was a betrothal gift from the Marestal mountain region of his home planet of Deretha.

He had loved Obi-Wan in a romantic sense for years now, in addition to the multitude of other ways his love expressed itself, so the possibility of his love being returned was as unexpected as it was treasured.

Did Obi-Wan realize the significance of his present, or had he just happened upon it at a local bazaar when he was on Deretha for his first mission as a new Knight?

Qui-Gon looked down at the divi cloth, surprised that his skin seemed to recognize the feel of it under his chin; the last time he had felt this material, he had been swaddled in its twin as a newborn. Homespun, indeed. His mother had realized her firstborn son was a fulfillment of the promise of the quilt, and it had become his baby blanket.

He brought the border up to his face, letting it catch the light of the candle by his bed. The fabric shimmered between his fingers. This wasn't the kind of gift you'd give a father figure, he mused, almost daring to hope. But he couldn't afford to assume Obi-Wan's motives. His considerate former Padawan might have just been thinking of an old man's comfort, well aware that Qui-Gon had used the same bedclothes throughout his apprenticeship.

Ah, but a memory from childhood surfaced while Qui-Gon caressed the cloth. There was another Derethan custom that would clear things up. He recalled that his mother and father had their initials entwined on the upper lefthand corner, as a way to personalize the gift and make it a family heirloom.

Qui-Gon hesitated a moment. What would he do if the corner was bare? Go back to his austere existence? It seemed intolerable to do so, after he'd let himself consider the incredible possibilities the quilt represented, he thought sardonically. Not knowing was even more painful than learning a bitter truth, however.

He had faced a Sith warrior with less trepidation than he felt now, when he gathered the quilt to himself, searching for the Derethan letters. No monogram on this side, no matter how hard he stared at the cloth. Now he was more worried than when Obi-Wan was taking his Trials.

Qui-Gon had to stop to compose himself, using decades of Jedi wisdom, before turning the quilt over. Hope was a powerful ally. If he found nothing, could he bear his future's new emptiness?

He finally steeled himself to action; he turned it over, big hands trembling. Amazement surged through him -- followed by utter joy -- when he saw the QO there, dazzling in copper thread. In a provocative touch, his former Padawan had them embroidered so that the tail of the Q was inside the O. His fearless Obi-Wan!

Qui-Gon ran his hands over the letters, hardly able to believe they were really there. He was touching a betrothal gift from his Knight. A shining presence drew his eyes beyond the quilt, to see his former Padawan grace his door, dressed in his sleep-clothes.

Obi-Wan stood by the doorframe, candlelight bronzing him, every inch the expectant groom to Qui-Gon's besotted eyes. "Do you like my present?" he whispered, easily audible to Jedi hearing.

"I love it," Qui-Gon whispered back.

"So you figured out the significance of the quilt, huh?" asked Obi-Wan with a shy smile.

Qui-Gon nodded. "But I wasn't completely sure until I found your inscription."

Obi-Wan slipped into the room so quietly he might have been in Qui-Gon's dream. Kneeling by the bed, Obi-Wan took his hand. "I was hoping you would. It was easier to wrap my hopes up in this gift than to summon the courage to speak to you directly."

"Says the most courageous man I know," Qui-Gon said, raising Obi-Wan's chin with a gentle thumb and brushing a forefinger over sweet lips. Then he arose and pulled Obi-Wan up with him, all the while keeping his hands on the Knight's shoulders.

Blue-green eyes locked with his own, and he sensed that Obi-Wan was finally about to say what was in his heart. "I've loved you forever, Qui-Gon."

"I love you, my Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon embraced him, years of love enriching their hug.

Obi-Wan looked up at him, wonder in his eyes. "Now I'm finally free to ask you what I've wanted to for years. "Instelces d' naragen cavarit?" ("Will you bond with me?" in Derethan)

Qui-Gon answered "Suva cavarit." ("I will." in Derethan)

They kissed, in a soft caress of lips, beard brushing over tender skin.

Qui-Gon closed his eyes. "That's better than anything I've ever felt."

"Better than anything I've ever imagined," Obi-Wan sighed into his mouth.

The back of Qui-Gon's bare legs shivered over the quilt, pressed back by Obi-Wan's enthusiasm.

"How about using your gift as it was intended, my Obi-Wan?" said Qui-Gon, stroking his cheek.

"Now that's the way to break in a betrothal quilt!" Obi-Wan replied merrily.


End file.
